HOW DOES THE INTERNALIZATION OF MISOGYNY OPERATE: A THORETICAL APPROACH WITH EUROPEAN EXAMPLES
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Original Scientific Article • DOI: 10.2478/rsc-2021-0013 RSC • 13(1) • 2021 • 120-128
Research in Social Change
HOW DOES THE INTERNALIZATION OF
MISOGYNY OPERATE: A THORETICAL
APPROACH WITH EUROPEAN EXAMPLES
Sorana-Alexandra Constantinescu*
Romanian Young Academy, Romania / Babeș-Bolyai University, Romania
Abstract
The present article will tackle the concept of internalized misogyny by trying to review existing theories and to extract a number
of common threads of these theories in order to find some useful insights on the internal mechanisms that make up internalized
misogyny, and on how internalized misogyny should be approached by practical action. I start the discussion by exploring oppres-
sion and the internalization of oppression, and afterwards move to internalized misogyny itself, charting its place within gender
dynamics in general, as well as its impact on gender roles, on women’s actions towards other women, and their actions towards
themselves. Using data from the World Value Survey (2017–2020), I will explore how internalized misogyny is reflected in specific
sexist attitudes, how it relates to male misogyny, and which aspects of gender relations seem to come to the fore when dealing
with internalized sexism. This will allow us to confront and complement the theories on internalized sexism with data on attitudes
and beliefs, and develop a clearer picture of the phenomenon, as well as drawing some brief conclusions regarding practical
action to mitigate gender oppression.
Keywords
internalized misogyny • sexism • Haslanger • gender domination • World Value Survey
Introduction
Despite the fact that the data on the gender pay gap, domestic the domestic realm (Constantinescu 2017). Despite male
violence, together with statistics on rape or the hampered attitudes towards women moving from considering them
access to education are all a few clicks away, Romanian naturally inferior to admitting a formal gender equality, this
mainstream media present women with a narrative that gender transformation came with many caveats regarding both what
equality has been achieved for decades and that feminists a woman’s role is in the household, as well as what activities
should ‘take a break’, as conversations on gender equality she is best suited for outside the home. This state of affairs has
are outdated. More than that, the oppression of women has been reflected in women’s own understanding of themselves,
planted its roots so deeply that women themselves are part of though this is usually visible more often in the discourse of
this phenomenon. We can see this process as analogous to women revolting from the roles imposed by society (Nădejde,
a collective gaslighting of women and the first step in dealing Cernat, and Mocanu 2019), as women supporting the gender
with it is to acknowledge that there is a problem. status quo were assimilated into the discourse of this status
This sort of denial of the issue is not new or particular to our quo and modulated their discourse accordingly or became
current social order. If we look back, we can see that the marginalized. An interesting example of this is the transition
problem of women’s oppression shifts from being overlooked from a more progressive view of gender roles in the first stage
entirely in pre-war Romania, with the mainstream view being of Romanian socialism to a view centered on motherhood
that women’s subordination is the natural and desirable state and child-rearing responsibilities during the 1970s and ‘80s,
of things, to a limited granting of political rights during the a shift that is visible in the discourse of the writers of the main
interbellum monarchy, neutralized by the progressive slide propaganda outlet directed towards women (Constantinescu
into dictatorship of the regime, and lastly to a partial economic 2017).
emancipation under state socialism, which contrasted with In order to better understand this phenomenon, I will provide
the political oppression and continued subordination in a theoretical overview of how the process of internalizing
*
Corresponding author e-mail: xxxx
© 2021 Sorana-Alexandra Constantinescu. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs license
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
120Constantinescu: How does the internalization of misogyny operate
gender roles under the guise of sexist attitudes and ideas for this, as she considers it crucial to distinguish between
occurs. Using data on differences in men’s and women’s those who abuse their power and those who do not make use
attitudes towards specific gender roles and rights, I will then of their position of privilege. I agree with Haslanger that the
map out how exactly women’s internalized sexism interacts main problem is systemic racism and systemic sexism, and
with more overt domination by men and provide a clearer that focusing the discussion on those who have power but
picture of how sexism is internalized and what role it plays in do not abuse it is from the start a losing strategy: even if they
preserving an unequal society. do not act as gatekeepers, the effects of power are intrinsic,
as those in a dominant position benefit from it even without
acting themselves (Connell 2014).
Oppression and internalized oppression
In this sense, Haslanger’s treatment of gender is peculiar
to her so-called ‘focal analysis’ of gender. Haslanger’s focal
Oppression is seen as the exercise of power by dominant analysis refers to the examination and explanation of a set of
groups on subaltern groups, and it can be traced back to phenomena ‘in terms of their relations to one that is theorized,
Marxist theory and its analysis of modern capitalism (but for the purposes at hand, as the focus or core phenomenon’
also of precapitalist societies) as a social order based on (Haslanger 2012, 7)–which in the case of gender grounds
the exploitation of human labour by the small segment of it on ‘the pattern of social of social relations that constitute
owners of the industrial means of production (i.e. capitalists). the social classes of men as dominant and women as
Therefore, in the Marxist view oppression, even gender or subordinate’ (Haslanger 2012, 228). This core structure then
racial oppression, is cast in terms of relationships of production proceeds to gender all other aspects of social life (norms and
and domination that develop historically along with the socio- customs, identities, symbols, etc.). This account is based
economic evolution of human society. While this view itself on the idea that women are oppressed, and that they are
has been challenged or expanded, over time it has influenced oppressed as women. Thus, belonging to a specific gender
a number of sociological approaches that focus on conflicts category is understood as a position within a more extensive
between dominant and dominated sections of a society as web of oppressive relations between segments of society
central to understanding the internal dynamics of that society. differentiated from each other through sexual difference.
Providing an overview of the phenomenon of oppression, In Haslanger’s model, the various phenomena surrounding
Young (1992) pinpoints five aspects of oppression: economic gender emerge from the core relations that constitute
exploitation, socio-economic marginalization, lack of power embodied groups as either dominant or subordinate based
or autonomy over one’s work, cultural imperialism, and on sexual differences. Thus, gender differences (and
systemic violence. I argue that all of these aspects can be gender discrimination) do not naturally spring up from the
easily observed within society’s treatment of women, through sexual division of bodies itself, but instead from the social
phenomena such as the gender pay gap, a higher share of prescriptions regarding how the sexed bodies of humans
domestic labour, resistance to offering women positions of are to be perceived, acted upon, and allowed to act. In this
power, the persistence of rape culture, or the lack of interest way, Haslanger avoids both naturalizing gender, as well as
of the state in defending women’s lives. completely disentangling gender from any bodily reality. For
A more recent example of this type of perspective can be her, gender is neither the mere social derivative of sex, nor the
found in Haslanger (2012), who treats gender and race random distribution of socially constructed roles to embodied
similarly. She argues that ‘the pattern of social relations that individuals, but rather the social ordering of bodies based on
constitute the social classes of men as dominant and women their perceived capacities and traits. More specifically, it is the
as subordinate, of whites as dominant and people of colour ordering of human bodies (male, female, or other) based on
as subordinate’ (Haslanger 2012, 228), where to have a their reproductive capacities and the physical traits connected
gender is not to have a specific reproductive anatomy, but to to these capacities, into dominant or subordinate positions.
be integrated into a power dynamic. With this intersectional This distinction, of course, evolves and shifts over time and
framework in mind, we will be able to approach the across cultural spaces and ends up covering a great number
multifaceted relationship between internalized sexism and of social norms that no longer have any direct connection
women’s discriminatory attitudes towards racial and sexual with sexual anatomy. Moreover, there is an interdependent
minorities. Haslanger observes two types of oppression: relationship between the gendered power positions and the
(1) agent oppression, where the violence is exercised by a body and its sexual traits, where gendered ways of treating
person and (2) structural oppression, in which the institution the body end up enforcing rigid sexual categories, as well
is the one that acts as the oppressor. The distinction between as leading to the embodiment of gender roles at the level of
the two forms is interesting, as oppression is not usually cosmetic alterations made to the body, regulation of the body’s
considered at an individual level, but Haslanger advocates development across childhood and into adulthood, inscribing
121Research in Social Change
particular habits onto the body, etc. This feedback loop of same tone, studies have demonstrated that women seem
recognizing and enforcing gender to produce bodies that pressured to be polite (Swim and Hyers 1999) and that they
are more clearly gendered, which then reinforce the gender fear being labelled feminists (Becker 2007). Thus, I believe
positions initially recognized, leads to an entrenchment of that an explanation for the subservience of women in the
gender onto the individual’s body and conscious identity. face of oppression is the fear of being humiliated. If they act
For Haslanger, gender is thus supported through four like good girls, there is no prize. However, they can expect
categories of phenomena: gender roles (i.e. how a woman punishment if they act in an undesirable manner. By contrast,
is supposed to behave in areas like sex, domestic and wage take into account, for example, the pressure on children to
labour, family life, self-presentation, etc.), which in turn are be good students in school. A child from a demanding family
fixed at the level of gender norms (social ideas regarding will know that if they get a bad grade, they will be punished,
what behaviours and traits are feminine or masculine), that but if their grades are good, a prize will be provided, be it
acquire cultural forms of presentation and representation by school or family. However, returning to the good girl, the
through gender symbolism (any kind of gender depiction threat of punishment is there, but the prize is an illusion at
that imparts gender roles onto individuals), all of these finally best. Thus gender-conforming women enjoy no specific
converging at the level of the individual’s gender identity (the benefits, but gender non-conforming women will experience
gendering of their body and mind, together with their mode disadvantages.
of self-identification). The individual’s gender identity then The role punishment plays in women’s subjugation is clearly
determines their performance of social roles, according to outlined in Frye’s (1983) definition of oppression as ‘a system
social norms and informed by symbolic representations, of interrelated barriers and forces which reduce, immobilize,
keeping the loop in motion. Of course, at the level of concrete and mold people who belong to a certain group, and effect
examples, this model is further complicated by other social their subordination to another group’ (Frye 1983, 33). Frye
identities the individual has to assume (race, sexuality, class). argues that, in response to this oppression, all forms of
With regard to this research, our interests will naturally feminism that take their struggle seriously would involve some
gravitate towards the issues surrounding gender identity, as degree of separatism, which would limit the amount of control
it is here that the internalization of sexism occurs, where the that men could exert by limiting the situations in which women
individual woman takes on ideas, patterns of behaviour, and a conform to gender norms in response to punishment/reward
gendered outlook on things from the outside social world, and mechanisms. The issue of separatism is, in my view, better
makes them part of her behaviour, her attitude towards herself tackled by Haslinger (2012), who does not separate men
and others, and her understanding of herself and others. from women (as well as leaving behind any third gender or
gender-queer people who cannot be made to fit this outdated
understanding of gender) as essentially distinct, but instead
Internalized misogyny
sees them as hierarchically distinguished, within an order that
is not strictly dictated by one’s sex, as second-wave feminists
When I talk about internalized misogyny, I will concentrate would treat it (Firestone 1970).
on the tendency of women to be drawn into this form of in- It should also be added that women, after hearing men
group discrimination. The importance that internalization demean the value and skills of women repeatedly, eventually
of oppression carries cannot be overstated, as it is a internalize their beliefs and apply the misogynistic beliefs
fundamentally necessary mechanism for oppression in to themselves and other women (Bem 1993; Rich 1980). I
general, and one of the main roadblocks for women trying to would note that this occurs ‘sooner’ rather than ‘eventually’,
overcome sexism. Because it relies on the assimilation of an as Bem (1993) puts is, because women, born in a society
already gendered social order that precedes and envelops that devalues them as women, have the stage set for the
the individual, some degree of internalized oppression is internalization of their oppression at birth.
ubiquitous and can even be found in some feminists and The internalization of sexism in women, however, does not
gender theorists, despite their best intentions. One possible start at the earliest stages of development; in fact, women only
explanation for this phenomenon is that women are afraid begin to internalize sexist attitudes during their adolescence.
of losing social rewards (the acceptance that comes with It has been shown that between the ages of eleven and
adopting the dominant attitudes, etc.) and also because self- fourteen, American girls become particularly vulnerable to
stereotyping has the function of increasing personal and the internalization of sexism. Pipher (quoted in Bearman,
collective self-esteem. By collective self-esteem, Glick and Korobov and Thorne, 2009, 19) shows that females change
Fiske (1999) talk about the belief women hold that they have their personality during childhood and adolescent stages of
superior domestic abilities, for example, and about attributing development; if in elementary school they are confident, bold,
negative traits to men–arrogance, childishness, etc. In the and androgynous, in their late adolescence many girls ‘lose
122Constantinescu: How does the internalization of misogyny operate
their assertive, energetic, and „tomboyish‟ personalities and capital. However, this hypothesis is actually contradicted by
become more deferential, self-critical and depressed’. empirical data (Muggleton et al. 2018), and, I would further
According to other authors, these changes coincide with add, presents us with a reinforcement of what Foucault
the increase in pressure to act like a grown-up woman, to (1977) called self-surveillance, in this case women having
copy them (Alfieri, Ruble and Higgins 1996; Hill and Lynch to understand their own sexuality and sexual needs through
1983; Eccles et al. 2003). This is linked to the ‘doing gender’ the disciplinarian lens of having to be sexually desirable to
perspective (West and Zimmerman 1987), in which gender men and having to provide sexual gratification for men. The
per se, and therefore all forms of gender difference, is pursuit of this so-called erotic capital can be understood as
socially constructed and constituted through interaction. one of the forms that the practices of this self-surveillance can
‘Doing gender means creating differences between girls and take. Women’s bodies are tied down by disciplinary practices
boys and women and men, differences that are not natural, like dieting, censoring of gestures and mobility, and bodily
essential, or biological’ (West and Zimmerman quoted in ornamentation. As Bartky (1990, 80) observes ‘it is women
Becker 2007). This could also be linked to the fact that with themselves who practice this discipline on and against their
the beginning of sexual development and the establishment own bodies … The woman who checks her make-up half a
of norms for attractiveness, gender conformity becomes dozen times a day to see if her foundation has caked or her
a more prized behaviour. However, the discussion about mascara run, who worries that the wind or rain may spoil her
whether this is indeed a prize is more complicated. One hairdo, who frequently looks to see if her stocking has bagged
author (Hakim 2010; 2011), tried to explain this by coining the at the ankle, or who, feeling fat, monitors everything she eats,
term sexual or erotic capital, explaining that ‘Women do not has become, just as surely as the inmate in the Panopticon,
have a monopoly of erotic power. However, they have more a self-policing subject, a self-committed to relentless self-
erotic capital than men, and this gives them a significant surveillance. This self-surveillance is a form of obedience to
potential advantage in negotiations with men. We present a patriarchy’.
new theory of erotic capital as a multi-faceted fourth asset It would also be relevant for the discussion around gendered
that is very different from economic, social, and cultural subjection to acknowledge the role played by the notion of
capital’ (Hakim 2010, 505). compulsory heterosexuality in constructing women as
What I want to point out here is not that sexual capital cannot a gender category. As previous research already notes,
be a solid concept, but that it is a misleading notion, as I compulsory heterosexuality already contributes heavily to
will explain in a moment. I would say that the criticisms of gender polarization, thereby reinforcing traditional structures
Hakim’s erotic capital are mostly deserved, but they miss the of male domination (Bem 1993; Rich 1980). From this point
mark by arguing against the term itself. When talking about of view, Rich (1980), who coined the term, explains that
this, Green (2013, 137) explains that ‘her primary concept— heterosexuality is adopted by people regardless of their
erotic capital—is overstretched, internally inconsistent, and sexual orientation, as heterosexuality is considered to be the
a-sociological, glossing over the structures of race, class, ‘normal’ and desired sexuality, and more so, is advocating for
and age that mediate women’s access to the resource’. But treating heterosexuality as a political institution, along with
while erotic capital may be a complicated form of capital, motherhood (Rich 1980).
it is not necessarily a useless concept. It is presented as However, women who internalize misogynist attitudes do
something that can empower women, but at the same time, not only enact the internalized sexism upon themselves,
evidence from game theory (methodology based on the trust but also express them in their interaction with others,
game) shows us that both men and women are less trusting mistrusting and devaluing other women, as well as
of women who are perceived as sexually accessible. Further exhibiting a favorable bias towards men. Women will take
to the point, we find women who inflicted costly punishment up racialized, ageist or ableist standards of attractiveness,
on a sexually accessible woman (methodology based on the internalizing them and using them as benchmarks against
Ultimatum Game) (Muggleton et al. 2018). The illusion of which women evaluate themselves and others (Wolf 1991;
power through sexuality is frail not only because it provides Lovejoy 2001; Wingood et al. 2002; Collins 2004; Fahs
women with an untrustworthy aura, but also because it is 2011). This phenomenon can trigger a range of harmful or
susceptible to race and class, and of course, age (Collins self-destructive effects, from harming women’s self-image
2004; England and McClintock 2009; Fahs 2011; Farrer (van den Berg et al. 2010) to raising the likelihood of women
2010; Lovejoy 2001). engaging in risky sexual behaviors (Eisenberg et al. 2005;
Hakim (2010; 2011) goes even further with her explanations Gillen et al. 2006).
of erotic capital, talking about the ‘male sex deficit’, by which This comes into contrast with Hakim’s (2010) framework, as
she understands that men need more sex than women it seems to indicate that beauty is less of an asset in social
can provide, thus giving women an advantage in erotic negotiations, and more of a dimension through which gender
123Research in Social Change
conformity is measured. Furthermore, we see how in order Table 1. Jobs scarce: Men should have more right to a job than
to attain or maintain specific standards of beauty, women are women (5-point scale)
much more likely than men to develop eating disorders, or Agree + strongly agree Women (%) Men (%)
to undergo medical procedures and draconian dietary plans France 11.9 9
(Davis 2003; Heyes and Jones 2009). Hungary 17.4 25.5
In 2018, the #MeToo movement, which went viral in October Romania 39.2 44.1
2017, underwent a (not so) surprising turn. Several women
Sweden 2.7 1.8
sent an open letter (the French actress Catherine Deneuve
being one of the famous co-signers) saying that the
movement is wrong because it changes the way in which men where the countries with worse gender equality scores will
and women interact (Willsher 2018). Missing the point of the also present more widespread sexist attitudes. With regards
campaign, their statement is that men will not be allowed to to the question of access to the labour market during periods
flirt anymore. This type of reaction to keep the status quo is of job scarcity (Table 1), both France and Sweden had a fairly
intriguing, and cannot be analyzed apart from class. As seen low percentage of respondents agreeing that men should be
with other powerful women, the discussion on misogyny is not privileged for employment over women, with small differences
only a discussion on gender but also a debate on class; for between the responses. This pattern is repeated for the other
example, Firestone (1970) talks about sex class and keeping questions as well (Tables 2–4). Interestingly, in both cases,
the privilege that enslaves women. Internalized misogyny women have a slightly higher rate of agreeing with the idea
cannot be therefore seen in a vacuum, without looking at how that men should have more rights to a job during a crisis.
other social dimensions (race, class, sexuality, etc.) may lead However, this could simply be the result of men being less
some women to participate in the perpetuation of sexism on open about having sexist beliefs in societies where gender
a social scale, especially when certain aspects of that sexism equality in rights has been the long-established norm. It could
may not impact them as heavily as is the case with other also be that internalized sexism has more staying power, due
groups of women. to its being tied to more subtle forms of sexism than overt
denial of equal rights.
By contrast, both Romania and Hungary, while displaying higher
Methodology
levels of women agreeing with sexist claims, also present a
larger gap between men and women, with men having higher
Using World Value Survey data from the 2017–2020 wave, rates of sexist attitudes. This is true for all other questions.
we will look at how women are answering gender-sensitive This dual phenomenon of higher rates of internalized sexism
questions. The countries were chosen looking at the highest on the part of women, together with a wider gap between
and lowest ranked according to the Gender Equality Index women and men’s attitudes seems to support Haslanger’s
from 2021 (European Institute for Gender Equality 2021): (2012) model. While women do seem to internalize social
two countries that ranked high for gender equality, Sweden norms and expectations within their gender identity, as can
(83.9) and France (75.5), and two countries that ranked low, be seen from their attitudes, this internalized sexism seems
Romania (54.5), and Hungary (53.4). The European Union to be secondary to the sexism of the dominant gender group
score was 68 points out of 100. (men). This seems to lend credence to Haslanger’s idea that
the ‘focal phenomenon’ of the structuring of gender relations
Data analysis is the relationship of dominance/subordination between the
The analysis is descriptive, with the purpose of exemplifying genders, since, in societies with greater gender inequality,
the main literature approaches to internalized misogyny. As men will more frequently assert their own claims to a dominant
shown in the previous section, the internalization of misogyny position compared to the degree to which women accept
can be traced to oppression theory. Therefore, in the present their subordinate place. According to Haslanger’s treatment,
study, two directions were followed: are women positioning this is due to the fact that women’s internalized sexism
themselves in a subordinate position to men regarding is a consequence of phenomena such as gender identity
educational, political or economic power?, and is there a formation, which is informed by a number of other social
difference between women and men regarding these types of phenomena such as the formation of gender symbolism, the
attitudes? In order to do this, the answers to gender-related construction of gender norms, and the scripting of gender
questions from the most recent available World Value Survey roles, all concentrating around the focal phenomenon of
were compared by respondents’ sex. Taking into account the gender domination.
four questions relevant to our discussion of gender oppression We can therefore see that for every statement that more or
and internalized misogyny, a fairly obvious pattern emerges, less overtly implies male domination, either directly through
124Constantinescu: How does the internalization of misogyny operate
Table 2. Men make better political leaders than women do Table 3. University is more important for a boy than for a girl
Agree + strongly agree Women (%) Men (%) Agree + strongly agree Women (%) Men (%)
France 13.3 9.8 France 3.8 6.4
Hungary 28.7 37.9 Hungary 9 14.3
Romania 34.3 46.4 Romania 17.1 21.5
Sweden 3.6 5.6 Sweden 0.7 2.1
leadership positions in politics or business (Tables 2, 4), or the household, while men engage in wage work, politics, or
indirectly as a result of privileged access to employment business.
(Table 1), men in more unequal countries tend towards The question regarding higher education offers us more
defending this domination (e.g. nearly half of Romanian men interesting results. First, when it comes to the countries with
think they have more rights to a job, that they make better greater levels of gender inequality, here we find the smallest
political leaders and business executives, etc.). In contrast gap between male and female respondents (5.3% for Hungary
to male domination, which is both immediately enacted and 4.4% for Romania), as well as the smallest levels of both
and yields tangible material benefits, female subordination internalized misogyny for women and misogyny on the part
is internalized by women through the mediation of gender of men. This should indicate that having a university degree
identity. For women there is an additional mediating step is not as immediately involved in gender hierarchies—this is
between the social phenomenon of their subordination and likely due to the fact that, unlike with the other questions, this
the idea that reflects this phenomenon in women’s minds one presents less of a zero-sum game to the respondents,
(i.e. the idea that their inferiority is an objective fact), which where one gender achieves dominance at the expense of the
consists in internalizing their subordination as part of their other (as in the case of political leadership or job scarcity).
identity. This is in addition to the fact that, as I have pointed We can also look to the smaller gender gap for researchers in
out, women’s acceptance of their gender roles has less to Central and East European countries, a legacy of the gender
do with receiving social prizes, and more to do with avoiding policies of previous regimes similar to other former Soviet bloc
social penalties for not conforming. countries (Huyer 2015), as another source for setting these
An interesting observation can be made that, while French particular gender norms with regards to higher education in
women tend to agree with sexist statements more than these societies.
French men (Tables 1, 2, 4), an exception occurs when it The second interesting aspect about the responses regarding
comes to the importance of a university education (Table 3). the importance of a university education is that it is the only
While in all cases, both the overall percentage of agreement question where women in both countries with greater gender
and the gender difference are small (the greatest percentage equality (France and Sweden) have agreed in slightly lower
being 13.3% of French women agreeing that men make better percentages than men with the sexist statement being put
political leaders than women, where we also find the largest forth. As with the examples of Romania and Hungary, one
gender difference in responses: 3.5%), the phenomenon is explanation could be simply that the different phrasing of the
notable, as in the case of Sweden, the level of internalized statement is less overt in asserting male superiority, and thus
misogyny is lower than the level of male misogyny (except male respondents may be slightly less uncomfortable with this
in the case of rights of employment, where the difference tempered sexism.
is minute). Men being less open about their sexist beliefs The statement ‘men make better business executives than
remain a possible explanation. women do’ yields some interesting responses (Table 4).
Additionally, we can also look at the fact that despite a The idea that men are more competent business leaders is
greater degree of gender equality being achieved, France often grounded on a gendered understanding of leadership
still lags behind Sweden when it comes to the division of as requiring stereotypically ‘masculine’ traits (Yoder 2001),
domestic labour. French women still undertake a larger share despite the fact that studies on actual organizations identify
of housework and child rearing than Swedish women, and a vast number of different leadership styles favoring a variety
France has lower levels of accessing child care for infants of gendered traits, and these studies do not seem to find any
than Sweden (Anxo et al. 2007). Therefore, while French men significant difference between the leadership styles of men
have accepted that women have a right to employment and and women, despite a slight tendency in male subordinates to
to positions of leadership, the day-to-day reality of unequal perceive their female leaders as more authoritarian (Cuadrado
distribution of domestic labour could be influencing the et al. 2012). In the case of the present data, it was interesting
greater degree of internalized sexism on the part of women, to see a higher discrepancy between the attitudes of Swedish
who come to see it as natural that they spend more time in men and women, which otherwise tended to be fairly close in
125Research in Social Change
Table 4. Men make better business executives than women do Determining the precise role that internalized misogyny plays
Agree + strongly agree Women (%) Men (%) is not simply a matter of clarifying our theoretical models, but
also affects how we practically intervene to change social
France 9.3 9
orders that maintain women in a subordinate position. In
Hungary 20.1 27.2
this sense, I want to underline three aspects of internalized
Romania 27.8 45
misogyny that the various conceptual frameworks I have
Sweden 1.8 6.7
reviewed seem to point to:
1. The internalization of sexism is an effect of women
their responses. While it could be argued that this may be due assimilating certain gender norms and gender symbolism
to national differences in the executive gender gap (where into their own gender identity, thus ‘naturalizing’ their
the most recent data shows Sweden lagging behind France, subordination in their own perspectives. While this point
with 38% women in company board positions compared to may seem trivial, the fact that the internalization of misogyny
45.1% in France), this does not seem to hold when we look is not the focal phenomenon of gender oppression, as per
at the cases of Romania and Hungary, which have a very Haslanger’s (2012) model, means that it cannot represent
low level of representation for women in corporate board the primary site of action against sexism, as internalized
positions (12.8% and 9.9%, respectively) that does not seem sexism is merely a reinforcing factor.
to indicate any correlation with the attitudes of men and 2. Internalized misogyny has a complicated relationship with
women in these countries (European Commission 2021). The other forms of prejudice women may hold, and often it is
more likely explanation is that because traits associated with important to investigate to what degree a particular belief
business leadership tend to be stereotyped as masculine, or attitude represents internalized misogyny and to what
attitudes with regards to business leadership and gender will degree it represents racism, classism, etc., i.e. to what
shift at a slower pace than in other areas. degree a woman expressing derogatory views on women
The fact that this statement, together with that on political is referring to particular groups of women (black women,
leadership, were the ones that most overtly expressed forms poor women, etc.).
of gendered domination, and drew the most support across 3. While internalized misogyny may be instrumental in
the four countries, despite their differences in gender equality, enforcing gender roles, an important part of its effect as
seems to support the link found in the theoretical overview of a part of a woman’s gender identity is the self-enforcing of
the link between oppressive gender relations of domination/ these norms through the woman’s actions upon her own
subordination and the internalization of sexist attitudes. What body and lifestyle.
the data flesh out more clearly is the difference between the The analyzed data on attitudes seem to support the theory in
degree to which women will self-identify with and assimilate a number of ways. As we have seen, internalized misogyny
their subordinate position, when compared to men and their seems to parallel the state of gender inequality within a given
dominant position. society, being informed by the degree of gender domination
rather than informing it, as can be concluded from the fact
that women’s internalized misogyny always lags behind the
Conclusions
average level of sexist attitudes within a country. Moreover,
as I have underscored in the theoretical discussion, without
The double standard when it comes to gender behaviour the tangible material benefits of domination, women are less
is present throughout the world. We can see this, for willing than men to assume misogynist beliefs. Nonetheless,
example, with regards to sexual behaviour: if young men are even without women participating in their gender oppression
encouraged to develop and explore their sexuality (Crawford to the same degree as men, unequal distribution of power
and Popp 2003), young women engaging in the same between the genders still seems to occur. The central role of
behaviour are making themselves a target for slut-shaming, the relationship of domination itself comes into play here. As
female genital cutting, and honour killings (Doğan 2016; we have seen, the strongest sexist attitudes, and the ones with
Gruenbaum 2005; Tate 2016). Throughout the literature, we the largest differences between men and women, come up
have seen conceptualizations of how women participate in when respondents are confronted with sexist claims that grant
their own subordination by enforcing sexist gender norms men superior rights when it comes to forms of domination, be
that conform to the forms of sexism they have internalized they political or economic. As I have pointed out, this seems to
as part of their identities. This process can be reflected in support models that focus on the phenomenon of domination
the data as well, as significant percentages of women display itself, rather than looking for other grounding causes (be they
self-sabotaging beliefs and attitudes as a reflection of this biological, economic, etc.), since the form of domination itself
internalized sexism. seems to be unimportant to the respondents.
126Constantinescu: How does the internalization of misogyny operate
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